Tag Archives: Jazz Festival

Post navigation

Venues: Run Rabbit Run is definitely in – one of the original venues and right in the middle of town.

Musicians: Musician Registration must be completed and registration fees ($20) paid by 24th April 2017… The fees are needed for Festival cashflow, but provided income is available, these will be reimbursed (and hopefully more) afterwards. No registration, no reimbursement.

Volunteers: for any Jammers not registered to play at the Festival, the opportunity exists to be a volunteer Door Manager. Apart from getting to hear some great bands, you will also get a free Festival pass. Anyone interested should contact Colin Garrett initially, on 0422 568 537

Like this:

Another Planning meeting for the Committee this week, and a busy agenda to be covered. This year we are aiming for semi-controlled chaos, an ambitious target but what the heck…

The closing date for band registrations, 4th March, is getting nearer, best get ya skates on…and after that, best make sure you have registered and paid as a musician – we need to get your name in soon so we can order the Neon Lights…

Bands to have signed up already include the fabulous Ade Ish, John McGill’s Undectet, the LowDown Big band, and the legendary Adam Rudegair. Who ran the jam sessions for three years, and is about the most entertaining keyboard player around.

Like this:

Was well attended by all accounts, with a lot of peeps on the street enjoying some fine music, food and wine, and the weather was more than generous. I will catch up with Peter Guest once he has slept it off, but the hope is that this will become an annual Festival.

This is the inaugural Festival, run by local identity, raconteur and all round good guy Peter Guest. If you are at a loose end and fancy giving the newly invigorated Marysville the once or twice over, this would be a good time to do it. There will be a range of music presentations by some pretty good bands, and a number of free-to-the public events, buskers and heaven knows what else.

Marysville is only 20 minutes from town if you are Bronwyn Bishop, and about an hour and half for the rest of us. You have to go past about 43 wineries in the Yarra Valley to get there, so you had better leave by about Thursday.

The line-up includes Wilbur Wilde, Tottie and the Wanderers, Joe Talia, Nick Charles, and my personal favourite, one time jammer Mama Alto. Tickets are selling fast – get yours now by logging onto http://www.marysvillejazzandblues.com/

And when you are done, you have to drive past 43 wineries on the way back.

Congratulations to Doug Kuhn, newly elected President of the Castlemaine Jazz Festival Committee. The other Committee members are Brett Willis, Vice President, Col Garrett, John Hannah, meself, Kirsten Boerema, Fran Sylvester, and Linda Carpenter: so a better representation from Castlemaine at last. Particular props to John Hannah for holding the home town fort for a third year, and to Gentleman John Curtis, who cunningly declines to be on the Committee, but contributes as much, if not more, than any other volunteer.

This year’s Festival was 40% bigger than the first year, and returned $60 plus registration fee to each of the 280 or so musicians who played.

A lively round table discussion with the Castlemaine based volunteers and some good suggestions for next year. Apart from the Committee, there were 55 volunteers who were indispensable to the running of the Festival – including a large number of regular Jammers, to whom the rest of us are extremely grateful.

The Festival was seed funded by the Melbourne Jazz Jammers, and quite a few regulars got to play – and entertain a series of packed houses.

Like this:

Oh, you are a gorgeous lot… we had two photographers cover the event. If you would like to get hi-res copies, at vastly trifling expense.
They didn’t cover every band, but took some great shots. Your maiden aunt wants one…

Like this:

We are a little concerned that the Committee, which at one stage looked quite capable of making a cods of the whole thing, is suddenly looking quite competent. There is still time to cock it all up, but we are leaving our run rather late. 85 bands, 285 musos? Should be a doddle….

Share this:

Like this:

Bob Sedergreen will be giving two master classes, at 12 pm and 3pm on Saturday 6th. His theme is Constructing a Jazz Solo, and the classes are open to anyone with a Festival Pass, and free to School Students. We already know quite a few high school students will be attending, and they will all get a free pass to the rest of the day’s programme in all eight venues.

The Master Classes will be held at the Old Castlemaine Gaol which is a fabulous venue, and you can catch a performance either side of each class.

Post navigation

Blog Stats

I'm taking a break this weekend. But I wouldn't leave you hanging. Here's a fascinating documentary on Art Pepper—Notes From a Jazz Survivor. The film provides a candid view of the alto saxophonist's struggles to keep his head above water and the role his wife, Laurie Pepper, played in giving him a reason to straighten up and fly right... […]

Well, it's Friday once again. A long week. So let's tilt our seats back, put up our feet and jet down to Rio. Here are four fab videos of bossa nova founders that I found surfing around on YouTube yesterday: Here's Luiz Bonfa playing his Batucada, Tenderly, Manhã de Carnaval and Menina Flor... Here's João Gilberto playing his Desafinado.. […]

Stax Records was the South's answer to Motown and Atlantic, and the African-American response to the British Invasion and folk-rock. Founded in Memphis in 1957 by Jim Stewart and his sister, Estelle Axton, the company began as Satellite Records but changed its name in 1961. Jim and Estelle took the first two letters of their last names and combined them […]